Director of Rugby Stuart Hooper called for more consistency from his Bath Rugby side following the loss to Exeter Chiefs and his squad certainly delivered last time out.

The Blue, Black and Whites were relentless in their physicality and dominance in Round 13 of the Gallagher Premiership, scoring six tries in a superb bonus-point victory against Newcastle Falcons.

It was a performance built on the group’s strength and unity. The backs managed the field well to get them into dangerous positions and the forwards struck with purpose, with the set piece proving to be a deadly weapon.

“There is a good sort of buzz around the place,” back rower Sam Underhill said.

“We’ve taken a lot of confidence from the past five or six games. Not so much from a results point of view but a performance point of view. We’re about finding little margins we can get better at and find a consistency in what we’re doing.

“There’s no point being unbelievable one week and poor the next and be a sort of reactionary team. We want to be a team that is able to replicate performances and they are not things that just happen they are things we make happen.”

Underhill’s individual displays have been impressive on his return from injury. He has been a menace in defence, a nuisance at the breakdown and chipped in with a try last weekend.

The England international is set for his third start in a row in the seven jersey and is expecting more of a physical contest when Worcester Warriors visit the Rec on Saturday.

Alan Solomons’ side haven’t had the rub of the green of late. Since Valentine’s Day, the Warriors have lost four matches in a row and have ended three of those games within one score of their opponents.

“They are a different challenge and play differently to Exeter and Newcastle,” Underhill said.

“There is a bit more around nine, their attack is a bit different and in defence they’re a bit more aggressive in D.

“For us, it’s about the consistency of our performance. We know what we want to do and we’ve got to be able to do it over and over again and keep finding ways of doing things.

“We’re growing and if we focus on performance then results will follow.”

MATCH DETAILS

Date: 20 March 2021
Kick-off: 14:00
Competition: Gallagher Premiership R14
Where: The Rec
Referee: Adam Leal (9th Premiership game)
Assistants: Greg Macdonald & Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Citing Officer: Chris Catling
Media Coverage: BT Sport Extra 3HD

Worcester warriors CURRENT FORM

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London Irish 20-17 Worcester Warriors | Gallagher Premiership
Worcester Warriors 23-24 Bristol Bears | Gallagher Premiership
Gloucester Rugby 22-14 Worcester Warriors | Gallagher Premiership
Worcester Warriors 13-17 Wasps | Gallagher Premiership
Leicester Tigers 41-24 Worcester Warriors | Gallagher Premiership

A SPECIAL SHOW AT THE REC

Elliott Stooke scored a brace as Bath Rugby romped to a comfortable bonus-point victory in the Gallagher Premiership against Worcester Warriors at the Rec.

The second row was one of four first-half tries with Tom Ellis, Jack Walker and Tom de Glanville also scoring to earn the Blue, Black and Whites a bonus point.

Further scores from Stooke and a superb solo effort from Josh Matavesi stretched the lead after the break in a classy display.

A young Warriors side did briefly take the lead when Billy Searle capitalised on a mix-up in midfield to run in the opening try.

From then on Bath's pack dominated with forwards Ellis, Stooke and Walker all going over from close range before fly-half de Glanville collected out wide and dotted down the bonus-point try.

Stooke showed his strength to crash through Worcester's defensive line shortly after the restart and Matavesi's clever dummy allowed him to accelerate down the middle and touch down under the sticks to put Bath out of sight.

The final 30 minutes fizzled out with no further scoring by either side, but Bath had already done the job.

PROGRAMME

Match Preview | Worcester Warriors | Gallagher Premiership | R14

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